₦airaland Forum

The Igbo are industrious people evidenced by what you can see at Aba, Nnewi, and Enugu. However, what they do in those places are also replicated in other places across Nigeria by other ethnic groups may be not on a larger scale or in a more concentrated location as in those places. For instance, I know of someone who needed a pressing machine for his small shoe factory and he went to Aba, they made something for him which to me is ingenuous. There are also Yoruba people engaged in such metal based works in Ibadan, Kaduna and kano.
Let me take another example shoes, Aba is known for made in Aba and generally when its not from abroad, alot of people think check it out for Aba however, alot of Yoruba and Hausa make shoes albeit at different levels of quality . For instance, the man I mentioned make over five thousand pairs for retail stores in Lagos and for exports, quality exports and that millions of naira in profit, and he's Yoruba.Alot of Yoruba are making money from such sectors that generally people believe certain ethnic groups are dominant but quietly maybe. For those who deride those local products as dudu osun soap etc, you have not started with life, not everyone can foray into steel based products

Furthermore, when you assemble a product say innosson cars, you begin to learn the underlying technology and maybe you can one day offload the burden of foreign license hanging over you. Innosson isn't manufacturing yet but like all the others, it can get there. However, assembling under your own brand is not much different from assembling for established brands like Toyota
or other assembling plants in and around Lagos.
I feel those who make more money are now the tech guys and as intangible as their services may seem, their products are money e.g. Nairaland.
I hope the Igbo and Yoruba can see that they actually complement each other. Thank you.

We surely miss him, too bad he left so early

kinibigdeal:
How old were you during Fayoses first tenure? let me ask you this question, your monthly allocation is 3billion, you are to pay a debt of 1.8billion monthly which is an automatic deduction and you have a reccurent expenditure of 4billion monthly. How do you balance that and still have capital expenditure?

if Fayose has been able to improvise and solve this very problem maybe then he would be a strong candidate. If you can't solve problems,and they are many in Nigeria, then he has no business being the next president.

The best candidates for the next president among the current crop of politicians are:
1. Yemi Osinbajo
2. Tunde Fashola
3. Alh Dankwabo
4. Musa Kwankwaso
5. Akin Ambode
6. Kayode Fayemi
7. Ben Akabueze
8. Nasir El Rufai

if am to add some outside the current office holders I will add:
1. Akinwumi
2. Ngozi Iweala

Those who think Ekiti is burdened by debt have little knowledge on governance. Its obvious Fayose doesn't have the average intelligence to turn things around, simple!

God save this generation, amen

Mcreloaded:
I hate to be the one to burst your bubble if you have been grinning from molar to molar, celebrating Pa Audu's "incredible feat" of exporting 72 tonnes of yam to the US and UK. I watched the report on AIT. Nicely packaged yam, in lovely cartons. I was tempted to celebrate Pa Audu for this achievement. Then I ran the numbers.

According to the May 2017 report by the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics, 1kg of yam goes for N256. This means that 72 tonnes of yam would have a street value of N18 million. Do the math. Forget that this is less than 50% of the volume of trade on a good day in Katsina Ala yam market every week. Anyway, the yam was well packed, and then freighted to the US and UK. Lets us assume than the packaging and freight cost N3 million (and it might be a lot more, given that yam is heavy). So we have about N15 million net worth of yam (18 - 3 = 15). Assuming we sell it at twice the price, we would make a profit of N15 million. Again, let us assume that we did not incur additional cost in the transaction. So, here is the summary: we exported 72 tonnes of yam, and made N15 million. Good business, good profit.

Now this is where I am going with this: if 72 tonnes of yam is processed to pharmaceutical grade starch, (PGS) (that is the major component of tablets and capsules), we will get about 9.7 tonnes of pure PGS. I am a pharmacist, I know. Depending on your source, pharmaceutical grade starch goes for anywhere from $20 - 40/kg in the international market. And you can google this up. Pa Audu's 72 tonnes of yam is therefore worth a princely N102 million if it was processed to PGS (assuming it is sold for $30/kg, just to be conservative). So, N18 million worth of yam, processed to N102 million, profit of about 84 million.

The question is, has Audu made N15 million or lost N84 million?

Imagine, for instance, that Benue State was interested in setting up a starch production plant in Katsina Ala. Would we need to export 72 tonnes of starch to make N15 million, instead of making 84 million? And this is a state that makes a pitiable IGR of N250 million per month. The same Benue produces arguably half of the oranges in the country but there is no single fruit juice making industry in the state. This is not about Benue.

Nigeria produces 50 million metric tonnes of cassava annually, 20% of world production according to FAO, but what do we do with it? We convert it to fufu and eat. Zero percent is processed to PGS or other value-added products. If only half of it is processed to PGS, we would be making N35 billion per annum in sales. Again, open Excel and do the math.

So we have Audu exporting yam, exporting jobs, loosing revenue and feeling cool. And we have Gov. Ortom in the background, loving the spotlight of this new enterprise, waiting for applause. He cannot see the opportunities and the waste. He cannot understand why IGR is only N250m/month. Then we have the federal government exporting crude, exporting jobs, messing us all up.

They we have us, eating 50 million metric tonnes of cassava, converting it to pooh when we can convert it to cash.

And we want to be called a developing country.

Your deep knowledge on this issue is apparent. We need to push beyond these mere exports as we see earning more dollars to do owambe. We have a market that can raise sufficient revenues to support our developments but heck, our current leaders went through a British education to supply the foreign market. We must begin to look at satiating our domestic needs
Secondly , Audu Ogbeh seems not to be in touch with modern economy. Lets start, the minimum wage in Nigeria is 18,000 what percentage of that is expected to be spent on feeding a family of 6 monthly? What are the current market prices of balanced diets that will feed such family in a month?

I hate hearing stuffs like these from supposed leaders, if you over produce it should reflect in lower prices!

Laughable recommendations if true. This will create more politicians, bring high cost of governance, unnecessary waste of resources. That's why am an advocate of restructuring to not more than 6-14 states or regions that will be autonomous. That conference was a waste of money without structural, political and fiscal restructuring.
Nonsense recommendations

dyydxx:
Hmmm are you sure the 60% accruing to the councilmen, village head and regional leaders not turn them to overnight billionaires while the common people still suffer? Let's be real. Look at Tompolo, Ayiri and the rest that have made tremendous wealth from the oil, are they better than their state governors? What little did they do to the community. Did the community hold them accountable? I know how the Niger delta people like to point to the Federal Govt and all but see how Alamesigha and Ibori looted. The money the 2 of them stole alone is enough to diversify the 2 states economy. Will we not just be changing the looters if the power eventually gets to there hands. I think its better we take it small by small and create institutions to checkmate corruption as well as strengthen the current ones. There must also be the political will.

At least the community will know the source of their problems. Don't you think a system that will checkmate ethnic or religious dominance is necessary while regions begin to work on how to tackle corruption
The Switzerland model of bottom up system of government is good at that level or what do you think?

dyydxx:
Thank you. When I wanted to reply you I saw please don't make racist or tribalistic comment in this section yet the mods don't enforce their rules. That moniker should have been banned and his destructive comments hidden.
Now on the subject matter I kind of have a different take. I am of the opinion that it's the failure of bad leadership and corruption that is the real problem and not the systems. This regional system they talk about was practiced by our forefathers it didn't stop the corruption. I remember vividly Kaduna Nzeogwu the organiser of the first coup say what led him to it was because the civilians were very corrupt. Okay, look at it this way, they said we shouldn't have federal roads, ask yourself what about the state roads? Are they better...what have the state governors done with whatever they get. Look at Bayelsa and Delta. The money that has gone through that place in the past 15 years is enough to turn those places to dubai if they had visionary leaders. So its not the system, it's the people. I agree the system might need some tweaking namely realigning states and more devolution of power to the states, Letting the Local Governments function well as they have been designed. The are virtually dead now because of State Government violating there autonomy. In short, the people need to change. We need a new consciousness and mentality that holds our leaders accountable and has a commitment to Good governance. My suggestion is this, Let them start from the 2014 Confab report and Implement it. This govt is a massive disappointment playing politics with it. At the very least, implement it or call your own and the nation can move forward. On the secessionists, those ones will be worse than even what they are complaining off if they ever get Power. The Corruption and Minority subjugation would be worse. We need a leadership that can implement the 2014 Confab.

I agree with you completely on corruption but I feel the current system encourages corruption too where government incomes are seen as national cakes to be shared.
Imagine even in dividing a father's estates without a will among five siblings can be so knotty talk less of sharing among multicultural country like Nigeria.
If a community that own oil block in Bayelsa takes ownership of their oil notwithstanding who's drilling, there's a percentage that accrue to the village say 10%, 20% to the council area or chiefdom, 30% to the region and 50% to the central government, you can bet that any lack of development will be tackled at the community level because the councilor/ mayor lives in their midst. It will engender greater accountability if you agree with me anyway

SnowJay92:
Corruption and nepotism would be better controlled in a nation with common interests, the law would also be more decisive in dealing with corrupt elements. There would be less cases of "they are witch hunting me because I'm from so so ethnicity." People would have their destiny in their hands, once they don't have anything to blame failures on, everybody would sit up, an average southerner is not willing to pay tax because he knows that money would be pooled together in Abuja and shared to his disadvantage. Alcohol is one of the highest selling commodities in the world and as such one of the highest VAT earner, you say alcohol is haram but you get the lion share from alcohol taxes. Who is fooling who? The average southerner pays a higher tax, but his child that scored 150 in common entrance to unity school would be rejected for someone who scored 4, like single digit "4"....that my friend is the real haram!

That's the more reason restructuring should be worked out. VAT on alcoholic drinks and other consumables can't be a central government income but a fraction of such income will go to the central government

SnowJay92:
Well, good luck with that, if whatever you are saying on this forum isn't what the northern hegemony wants, you're on your own. Have you ever seen them commenting here? They don't have such time, they take stands, back it with actions on the streets and killings if need be. Is the north ready to change their voting pattern with you? Is their any decision you'd ever take that would not be ratified by the National assembly under the current structure? Who has and will continue to have the majority in the national assembly perpetually?

The north is the north because of Nigeria, you take Nigeria out, it will be a different world. The north can brag because you let them! but when you want change, no one can stop you. If the north is the only part holding an opinion against other parts, it will fail.
I honestly believe any right thinking man can see that the way out of the mess Nigeria is in now is by fiscal and political restructuring or we may end up losing it all!

omoharry:
community? how will that work..is that not the same thing as the local govt? how will this community be form to be a component part of the govt if not through their local govt? or are you saying the local govt should be redefined? family by family is way too complex..

The Switzerland model is a bottom up approach where autonomy at different levels define government administrative areas. However, when we are all working to fill up a purse in Abuja its a top to down approach and its bad for Africa. A town can have a mayor who oversee governance and he can be a member of the provincial /regional /state parliament who is there to fight not to get funding from the centre but to retain wealth leaving his/her community

SnowJay92:
Who's talking about osu in 2017? Have you ever heard that someone was denied a job or admission into any particular school because osu? Is there's any section of this country that can come up with a secular Constitution devoid of any religious or tribal sentiments, that section would be found in the south and South alone. Facts only!

The hope is a Nigeria that accommodate all the ethnic sentiments and give opportunity to all to excel. The current structure wasn't propagated by the people that's why it is serving the elites.

SnowJay92:
What makes you think these people care about any agenda to you set?

Its not about what the elites want, by the time the country is too hot and the populace change their voting pattern they will learn. The people must begin to take their future in their own hands and begin to speak through their votes and through advocacy and I think this forum is one

IJOBA2:
WHAT WOULD BE YOUR POSITION IN MUSLIM DOMINATED AFONJA REPUBLIC BRUH

There's nothing wrong in a multireligious country whether dominated by whichever religion. What brings prosperity is a system that create values for all citizens irrespective of religious affiliation

Candyrain:
And Benue, Cross River, Edo etc

None should be minority in the new structure

Yes, as the people themselves will have it determined

omoharry:
If the whole north decide to introduce sharia to their region then what will happen to the indigenous minority Christians there..I believe the sharia law in the north should only apply to northern Muslims or state that decide to be controlled by it and this law should also apply to the rich and poor. All core Northern state should decide if they wish to be under the sharia law or not..no state should be force to do anythings.

If the region /state that introduced sharia is largely Muslim the federal/ central law protects the right of all Nigerians that live there, however, such religious practices cannot be legislated out, it will die a natural death under economic burdens

theSpark:
Nice perspective. About creating more States I believe if the conditions are tight (which would be difficult in Nigeria due to sentiments) many states will merge due to non viability few will split.

I like your perspective Sha, the idea is to build a society where every Nigerian will not be oppressed/dominated but will have a fair opportunity to achieve his/aspirations and practice his customs and faith. Same goes for each ethnic group. What we fear most is domination by the big 3.

Its not just about the big three even across several states there are agitations of domination by bigger groups. Ok lets look at Benue, Bauchi,Delta, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Kogi etc. Now look at a situation whereby Hausa/Fulani, Yoruba and Igbo are just one state/region each having the same members in Parliament like other 3-7 regions/ states legislating on things that bring everyone together, you can be sure your confidence will rise

deedeedee1:
How many of your politicians are in support of it? Are the hausas-fulani and their norther brothers in support? How many southerners are in support? This morning a governor from the south east voiced against it, so how then can we achieve it? Scotland is trying to leave the uk. Hong kong are also planning on leaving china. They all want to stay on their own.
Its has been over 40 years that people have been crying for restructure.
I have given up hope.
I want total disintegration.
That is final for me

The current pressure is already opening the eyes of the antagonists and if well sustained, will lead us somewhere.However,you can't give up, Nigeria is not an Hausa/Fulani or any tribal enclave, it is your country.All things are achievable

omoharry:
I agree with you.i think we should look at the last confab report it stated that each state should control whatever they have as resources and pay 30% tax to the federal govt,This state on their own can also decide if they wish to create more state under that region or not.We dont want another Tribal leaders causing ethnic crisis like what happened in the 60s.

What is important is to first of all understand our makeup, how we have been wired to function. In Africa we have affinity to the land, culture and our peculiar ways we organize our societies. You can't suppress that but rather look at how you can take advantage of that to create a country where each group will feel part of the country while taking ownership of their land, cultural values etc

beamtopola:
U do not make sense, let keep it the way it is.
State by state. I believed most of you belong to state that does not have any resources, may be that's why you want to alienate your state with mine to tap from my glory. Leave it, go and invest in agriculture!

I will want you to begin to look not on things you didn't create but on what you can create to add value. Aba, Ibadan, Nnewi and Laduna are centers of handicrafts in Nigeria, where people are adding economic values. The war of natural resources has brought many African countries on their knees and we must begin to look at the African brains, what can we do so as not to die in poverty!

theSpark:
You're right. There is a reason many communities agitated for States of their own. You can't just lump them back together into regions as they'll face the problems they ran way from in the first place.

I think 36 States are just good. Everyone stays in charge of their resources and pays the Federal government tax. With time those that can't cope will negotiate with neighboring States to merge. Those that can survive will stand.

For States that want to breakup Maybe minimum requirements must be met for new state creation. Like say they must have potential to generate sat 30 billion in revenue. Must have population of say at least 800k etc.

Hmn, I can feel you but each region will still have its internal structures that can continue to evolve. Under the current system, I feel we will be creating more problems than solving them.
Lets understand a few of the reasons for agitations:
Economic, ethnic, cultural and even spiritual dominance are a few reasons. Creating more states to solving these problems is like picking up every beautiful dress out there, if you wear more than one at a time your admirers will begin to sense something is beginning to go wrong upstairs.
Regions can divide themselves into counties or even on township basis and have Mayors from their kinsmen and everyone can be a part of governance

deedeedee1:
Me i dont want restructuring but total disintegration.
Se you get?

I believe whatever will help you actualize your type of dream can still be found and redeemable in a restructured Nigeria. If for instance, the Igbo want Biafra, why can't we have an autonomous Biafra in Nigeria. In China for instance, we have Macau and Hong Kong while in United Kingdom we have entities like Wales, Scotland, England etc, we can have ours in a model that work for all of us. This will be significant as a message to the world that we are capable of ruling ourselves and not at all times resort to violence that will take us back by another half a century

BabaRamota1980:
Were there not more than that before colonialists lumped it together? Whats the problem if all 250+ ethnics say they want existence in the way they were as a political unit before white man brought his political model?

If a people A choose via referendum to be alone, whether they are self sustainable or not is not the problem of people B.

I agree with you. People should begin to let others be but we must also desire a workable structure that will not promote poverty or seclusion so that we don't breed more disciplines for terrorists

beamtopola:
I love this idea. 6 region, north east, northwest, southwest ,south south, and south east.
Ss will includes, bayelsa, delta, rivers, akwaibom, calabar and Edo.

You will agree with me that some people will nurse the fear of the south south having enough resources to break away and also becoming rich overnight due to proceeds from oil and gas. I think we must learn to desire the prosperity of our fellow beings. That region has suffered and there's need for some growth now.
Using the German model, we can have a 50-50 sharing of proceeds so that half can be redistributed to help others grow. However someone may wish to ask, what about offshore oil and gas beyond the 200nm, it can be agreed upon.

BabaRamota1980:
I hear people submitting different state models but with little concern for historical reference.

Why can't we evovle the natural-model, along culture, language, progeny, philosophy?

One way to defeat the demand for states is, just ask people to submit demands for new states, you will be amazed. I think even as small as Lagos state is some are still demanding for a Lagoon state! People want states because some politicians will suddenly find their voice and use the instrument of such states to enrich their families and the poor will become poorer. Any conference that will satiate needs for states in Nigeria will probably bring the number of states to over a hundred or up to three hundred and, yes, most of them will just pile up overhead expenses and become unsustainable.
In 1996 in the last states created, I think its Gombe that has shown some improvements and maybe Ebonyi but that's over 20years! We better tell ourselves the truth that political developments has changed from the 6s, youths want economic prosperity and liberty to be whatever they want to be

dabeto:
I love this. When thought or idea comes it's not given to one person. Having been thinking along this line. Wish it could come to pass. Thanks a million

You will discover that most wars that has taken place in modern Africa resulted from undue dominance and lack of voice to the voiceless. Sudan, Congo ,CAR, Rwanda etc. People have the right to agitate when things aren't working for them but the moment you want to suppress such, problems begin to brew. It is not sufficient to defend the current system when people especially youths who were not part of the post independent political brouhaha to be subjected to the imaginations of those who fought a war in the 60s. If we say our current structure and systems aren't enabling us to grow economically, instead of sharing fearful tales and impossibilities, let us examine how every group across economic ,ethnic, cultural, linguistic etc groups can move forward in the same country. For instance, if the central government constitution says Nigeria is a secular state and a particular region/state is asking for federal funding on issues of say pilgrimage, the government will decline. I mean, we can all find fulfillments as a multicultural, multi religious and multiethnic nations in a country called Nigeria

beamtopola:
What about ijaw in ondo?

I said earlier, everyone will define their own future.

seunmsg:
Your effort on this thread is really commendable. We've been shouting restructuring for so long without anybody making an attempt to start a discussion on what the new structure should look like. I hope lalasticlala or Mynd44 can move this thread to front-page so that lots of people can share their opinion on restructuring and the kind of structure they envisage for the country.

Oh thank you. We must now move away from emotional side to a more pragmatic and proactive way of actually confronting our problems. This structure may not wholly agree with 100% of what will be but you can bet on the possible similarities. I've seen the obvious fears of some Nigerians who will be like wow how do we manage an Izon region with so much oil money when some will have to start scratching the ground, my advise is for them to go and read American history, time and season will determine your wealth when you stop scratching the ground and starts scratching your heads!
As wealthy as Nigeria is in oil most of the proceeds aren't in Nigeria.

beamtopola:
Region too will still make us lazy. Let it be individual state, leave ethnicity.rivers state is rivers state calabar is calabar .

When you pool your resources in a well managed system the average will be higher and you can be better for it. Those who think on the basis of commodity exports or income based economy don't rule the world, those who uses their brain does. That Niger Delta produces oil will not make them the richest, it belongs to those who can provide the market for consumers .
However we can tend to equate wealth but we end up creating more poverty

edogirl2:
The number of actual Yoruba-speaking people in Akoko Edo is significantly reduced now. We are talking a few villages along the boundary around River Ose.

From these villages to Ibillo and all the way to Igarra, you'll find people with Yoruba names & obvious Yoruba ancestry, whose parents speak Yoruba but who can not muster a word in Yoruba.

Things changed in the early 70s when Ogbemudia or the then Governor forbade the teaching of Yorubas in their schools.

The current generation of young Akoko Edos look more to Benin, than Akure or Ibadan. I believe they'd probably prefer to remain in Edo.

Where the people chose to pitch their future is left for them to determine and can't be a subject of an argument. However, I can say that depending on the internal arrangement of the sides and how they can gauge their opportunities, I feel that will inform their choice

bolanto24:
Every region should look inward JOOR... no more rubbing from Peter to pay Paul. 70% to regions and 30% to federal government is OK. The federal government can take care of the less wealthy regions.

Regional or state/County/local police is paramount.

The regions should be created by Tribes or closely related tribes. We should not make a mistake of lumping some less populated tribes with big ones else the oppression and marginalisation will continue. I am interested in all the Ijaws in one region.

The Federal government will only control the military, foreign affairs.

The national assembly should be unicameral and equal members from each state. We don't want some regions using their numbers to oppress others.

THESE ARE THE MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR ONE NIGERIA. ELSE SEPARATION BECOMES INEVITABLE.

I AM READY TO CHAMPION THIS FOR MY PEOPLE.
JUST LOST HOPE IN NIGERIA.

Nigeria is your country and you don't have to lose hope. I've read countless argument on how its been the fault of colonialist in merging unlike terms and called it Nigeria but if we really look at it, it was the fault of our leaders not coming up with what works for us. As developed as Europe is, its still evolving and no heaven is falling! Our leaders had in their best intents worked to protect their parochial interests without paying attention to how to make our differences into a strength that work but see their organizations they do such things to amass so much wealth.
May be the current below 50years population will see to a better Nigeria

seunmsg:
Will there be a single national currency or each regions will have her own currency? Will the foreign exchange management and monetary policy decisions be made by the federal government or regions? Who will regulate commercial banking services? If all these duties will be handled by the federal government as I am envisaging, then to a high extent, the economy of the country will be controlled by the center. If regions are to individually control these critical economic issues, then the new system should be called confederation and not federation.

If my assumption of a federally controlled economy is right, then there is still a lot to be legislated and decided at the centre. See, let's not deceive ourselves, we cannot have a federal system without a strong federal government. America, China, Canada, Germany etc that practice federalism still have a very strong federal government. We can only reduce the powers of the current federal structure and give regions more powers.

Back to revenue, in as much as we remain under a single monetary authority, natural resources in the federation cannot be the exclusive preserve of regions where they are found. It will create a distorted economy that will hurt everybody. In Germany for example they have an arrangement whereby less endowed regions still get to share revenues accruing from more endowed regions. We will have to work out something similar.

Finally, we can't run away from a population based constituency delineation. It is the only workable democratic way to form a Parliament especially when a unicameral parliament is being proposed. Let us propose a realistic structure that will be workable and acceptable and not an unrealistic one.

I share some of your sentiments but I believe its part of an evolving process. The German model can as well apply but there's this reason we need to think outside the box to create a system that will work for us. The truth however remains that each region/state /province must seek their own prosperity.
The central bank will be a central institution with governing council nominated by each state/region/province and a governor approved by the parliament.
I honestly think seeking your redemption in someplace is akin to losing hope, everyone will survive